An Annoying Guest
by CrankyHornedNoseJudithFngrl
Summary: With the flu season in full swing, what will happen when Rina and her furry friends encounter an evil influenza strain bent on adopting every last Wild Thing as its host? I do not own WTWTA, Jonze and Sendak do. Please R and R!
1. Chapter 1: Judith Has the Sneezes

_An Annoying Guest_

_Ch. 1: Judith Has the Sneezes_

9-year-old Rina sat up in bed and looked around her room. It was a Saturday, and if she got some time to herself, she planned to go see her friends, the seven Wild Things. It was a perfect day for it.

She felt around under the covers for her plush Sully from the movie, _Monsters, Inc._ Rina loved soft, furry creatures that hugged and soothed people, and that was why she loved the Wild Things. Her father, Max, claimed to have known them personally when he was just her age, and would entertain his daughter with stories of how he was made their king, and led them on wild rumpuses. But most special of all was the soft lullaby he would sing to her at bedtime; the one about just closing her eyes and letting the Island of the Wild Things materialize and bring her comfort.

Rina dressed herself in a Littlest Pet Shop shirt and Capri pants and went downstairs to see what her father was up to. But first, she had to use the bathroom. So, she went in and out as quickly as she could.

When she exited the bathroom, she noticed her tall, tousle-haired father standing right in front of her in the doorway.

"Hi, Daddy!" Rina greeted him.

"Hey, sweetheart," her father replied. "Did you sleep well?"

"Uh-huh! I had another dream about Judith an' Carol!" Rina replied, referring to two of her Wild Thing friends.

"Oh, that's great! Nightmares don't dare intrude where Wild Things stake their territory!" Max answered, deepening his voice to a Carol-like growl and swishing Rina high in the air.

Rina screamed with laughter as her father swung her about and snarled playfully. "RRRAAAaaaaaRRRrrr! I'll eat you up, I love you so!" Max continued, tickling his daughter under her arms. Then he set her down and his expression became more serious.

"Did you wash your hands just now?" He asked her.

"Uh….no, Daddy… I guess I forgot!" Rina replied.

Max chuckled warmly and patted Rina on her shoulder. "Well, try not to, all right? With this new flu virus going around, we all have to be extra careful. I wash my hands, you should wash your hands, Aunt Claire washes her hands when she comes over to do stuff with you…"

"But, Daddy! Didn't we get shots for the flu?" Rina asked. Now, _that_ certainly hadn't been any day at the beach, but holding tight to a picture that she had drawn of herself being hugged by Judith had markedly eased Rina's fear of the Walgreen's clinician's needle.

"Yeah, we did; but this new strain is so tough that doctors haven't been able to turn it into a vaccine!" Max replied. Rina nodded. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She hated to be sick, but like most little girls, she didn't care much for shots, either. She remembered what had happened when she had escaped to the Wild Things' island, trying to get out of getting an immunization against the standard flu virus:

"Anyone who wants Rina to go back home and get a shot so she doesn't get all sick and miserable 'cause we'd all hate that; raise your paws!" Carol bellowed; and seven paws immediately shot up in the air. Everyone always did what Carol said.

Judith tsk'ed and then said to Rina, "Sorry, toots; 7 to 1. Go back to your Dad."

Max turned to go downstairs, but not before tossing a small package of tissues for Rina to catch.

"What are these?" Rina asked.

"Tissue packs," Max replied. "Be sure to use them every now and then, okay?"

After she had breakfast, Rina walked down to the woods where she knew the boat would be waiting. She was bundled up smartly against the cool weather, and she was carrying the tissues in her jacket pocket. She took them out and looked at them with distaste. Shirtsleeves had always worked just fine for any itchy or runny nose she'd ever had. She was sure the Wild Things felt the same way.

At last, when she had found the boat in the forest, she hoisted the sail and began the journey which seemed to progress through night and day, in and out of weeks, and almost a year. When she reached the Island of the Wild Things, she pulled the boat ashore- and noticed Carol and KW standing there ready to greet her! But instead of looking happy to see Rina, they looked worried.

Carol, who was never able to stifle his true feelings about a situation, came rushing over to Rina and scooped her up.

"Golly, are we ever glad to see you!" he panted, as Rina nuzzled him under his furry neck.

"What's the matter, Carol?" Rina asked, as KW ambled over to say hello.

"We think there's something wrong with Judith! She's been sneezing all morning and we don't know why!" KW replied.

"Oh, no! Poor Judith! Does she have a cold?" Rina asked Carol.

"We don't think so; if she did, her tail would be dragging on the ground, like all of our tails do when we're sad or sick!" Carol answered.

"Well, let's go to her! We gotta find out what's wrong!" Rina announced. She broke into a run towards the woods and called as loud as she could, "Don't be scared, Judith! I'm coming to help you!"

As she ran, the packet of tissues was jostled out of her pocket, and KW bent down to recover them and handed them to Rina.

"What are these, Rina?" KW asked her.

"Oh, those are tissues. My dad made me take them with me."

Meanwhile, Judith was lying on the ground next to a tree, where Ira was running his claws through her lion's mane in a comforting gesture. Judith heard the sound of running feet, and turned her head to see Rina running towards her.

"Hi, Judith! Don't worry, we'll find out what's wrong and make you feel better!" Rina announced as she came running over to give Judith a hug.

Judith opened her substantially-fanged mouth to say hello to her little friend, but ended up letting loose with a powerful sneeze instead. And that sneeze happened to catch in the folds of Rina's unzipped jacket and sent her gliding backwards about three feet.

"Oh, dear. Pardon me, sweetness," Judith said, looking embarrassed and bringing a paw to her nose.

Rina was thrilled. "Wow, Judith! That was fun!" she giggled. She ran forward again, flapping the corners of her jacket like seagull wings. "Sneeze at me again! Sneeze at me again!"

At that moment, Carol stepped forward to catch the little girl up in his furry arms and place her on the top of his head, where she would be safe.

"Better zip up that jacket, Rina," he said gently. "Looks like it's gonna be windy."

"Yeah, Rina," Ira said, joining them. "When any of these guys gets the sneezes, it's no joke."

Carol turned his head to eyeball Ira's prominent nose and placed his paws on his hips. "Well, you're sure one to talk, aren't you?" he replied sarcastically. With that, he reached over and pinched Ira's nostrils together and went, "HONNKK!"

"Oh, you're a scream," Ira growled at Carol as he trudged over to tend to Judith some more.

"Judith; aside from sneezing a lot, do you _feel_ sick?" Rina asked the leonine creature.

"Nope, can't say that I do," Judith replied, pawing at her nose. "I just have this really annoying sort of tickle in my nose!"

"But you can't just scratch it on a tree, like you do with your horn when your horn tickles?" Rina inquired, referring to the rhino's horn that Judith sported on the tip of her snout.

"Unh-unh. Believe me, I've tried!"

Rina sighed and began to swing her arms back and forth in a pensive gesture. "Well, Judith, it looks like this is one problem that you can't just eat in order to make it go away," she finally said.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Judith replied. "I haven't the faintest idea how I'm supposed to eat a nose tickle." She, Rina, and all the other Wild Things laughed at this. Judith tossed her fluffy mane in the air and laughed at her own joke, and then sneezed again about seven times in a row.

Rina and the Wild Things were not quite alone. A nasty, globby little flu virus strain named Pukey Feelgross was watching them. He gave a devious snicker.

"Yes, go on and laugh, you fluffy-puffy hairballs! Everything's just a big joke to you lumbering flea mats! Well, your size doesn't make you totally invulnerable! Nyaah-haahh-haaahh!"

Pukey rubbed his bacterial hands together, and a wicked smile spread from one corner of his mouth to the other. "Just an innocent little tickle in her nose, she says! That's where she's wrong! I've got a direct in with the histamines in her nostrils! That tickle won't be soothed away easily!"

Just then, the virus's "pocket" started to vibrate and and his phone's ring tone of "Rock the Boat" chattered on.

"That must be Horn-Schnozz's histamines now!" Pukey said gleefully, pulling his phone out and opening it. "Yeah!" he barked into the mouthpiece as a way of greeting.

"Hey, is this Pukey?" came the voice on the other end.

"Yep! How's it goin' in there? Is she still sneezing?"

"Like a train, baby!" the nasty histamine cackled. "We never knew how sensitive she was to blossoming trees until we started this! We haven't had this much fun since Josh had his moving-out-of-his-mom's-basement party, dude!"

"Dude, I know!" Pukey replied. "Well, keep up the good work, bro! And hey, y'know what? Next time you have her sneeze, make sure that little girl's in the line of fire!"

"How come? I thought you-"

"I like infecting little kids best! Their bloodstreams are easier to swim in!" Pukey answered, hanging up. If his evil plan went well, he would crawl into Judith's nostrils and be catapulted at whomever she sneezed in front of next. And there was a good chance of the victim being Rina, given how close she stayed to Judith!

What the evil virus strain didn't notice was that KW was getting an idea.

KW gave Rina a nudge in the arm.

"Rina!"

"What?"

"The tissues that you brought! Carol has some books in his workshop about humans, and he read about how they sometimes use tissues to cover their mouths and noses with when they sneeze. They also use them for blowing their noses, too, apparently!"

"Hey, cool," Alexander cut in. "I might try that sometime; like during a rumpus or something. It sounds like such a nice, noisy thing to do!"

Rina laughed. "Oh, it is, Alexander! And it's true, KW; humans do use tissues sometimes! But how could they help Judith?"

"When someone's nose gets all stuffed up, it can sometimes make them sneeze," KW explained to the dark-haired little girl. Then she turned to the considerably older female Wild Thing that she sometimes butted heads with. "Hey, Judith! You say you've tried everything, but have you tried just blowing your nose?"

"What good would that do?" Judith grumbled.

"KW thinks your nose is probably just all stuffed up, and that's why you're sneezing so much," Rina explained. She pulled the packet of tissues out of her pocket and broke the seal. "Thank you, Dad!" she said to herself as she did so.

She took out a handful of tissues and handed them to Judith. "Go on, Judy! You've got nothin' to lose!"

For a moment, Judith just stared st the tissues as though she didn't really know what to do with them (which she didn't). Just then, she felt another tickle in her soft, sensitive nose. She closed her eyes tightly, raised the tissues to her face, and gave a terrific sneeze.

"Aaaahhhh....AAAAAAaaaahhhhh......AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH.......AAAAAHHHHH-CHHOOOOEEEYYY!"

Rina fell backwards onto KW, and clusters of leaves fell from the trees that towered over the Wild Things.

Judith gave a mighty blow into her paw-ful of tissues and then looked up. " 'Scuse me," she said, blushing.

Rina came over to her. "How do you feel now, Judy? You feel better? You certainly don't sound as stuffy anymore."

Judith looked down at Rina and flashed her one of her rare smiles. "I feel much better now, Rina! Thank you!"

All the Wild Things breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gesundheit, Judy," Ira said politely to his girlfriend.

Pukey had been watching this whole scene, and he glowered.

"Dangit! I had that little girl in my grasp! Well, never mind! I'll think of something else! But I'm going to infect every living creature on this lousy island or lose a half-life trying!"


	2. Chapter 2: Pukey's First Victim

Ch. 2: Pukey's First Victim

Note: OOooohh, who IS Pukey's first victim? Read to find out! BTW, this chapter has lots more Wild Thing sneezes in it, so stand back! - CarolJudithFan

With Judith's sneezing problem taken care of, Rina and the Wild Things set about doing what they did best: whatever came to mind. Douglas came up with the idea of showing Rina a section of their island that she'd never seen before. Everyone thought this was a great idea, and they all wanted to come.

"But I want to ride on Judith on the way to where we're going," Rina conditioned. Not expecting Rina to announce her preference so frankly, everyone agreed. Even Carol, who liked carrying children on top of his head.

As for Judith, she was flattered and pleasantly surprised. When Rina's father had stayed with them, he had avoided Judith to the best of his ability. And on the one-and-only exchange that the two of them _did_ have, it had quickly degenerated into a harsh laughter fight in which Judith had been left in tears. And as if that was not enough, Max made her be one of the "bad guys" in the dirt clod fight he'd organized not long afterward.

_Where did Max get this little cub from?_ Judith wondered as she looked at Rina. Well, she supposed it didn't really matter now. She finally had a little girl-friend to do things with and talk to. Heck, that was all she had ever wanted.

"You want to ride on me? Okay," Judith said to Rina as she crouched down on all fours. "Now just climb onto my neck, swing your legs over -and try not to get your shoes in my mane, sweet pea- and hold on TIGHTLY to my horns as I stand up."

Rina followed all these instructions and was soon up on top of Judith's head. At this new height, Rina could see far more than she could on the ground.

………………..

As the Wild Things processed to this new area that Douglas was leading them to, Judith purposely lagged behind in the back so she could talk privately with Rina.

"So, Rina, what made you decide to ride with me in particular?" Judith asked. "Usually, you ride with Carol or KW."

"I wanted to make sure you're okay," Rina explained. "I want to be able to help you if you start sneezing again."

"Oh, you don't have to worry," Judith nickered. "It was probably just a little hay fever. Douglas gets it all the time. Alex, too. I feel fine now."

"You promise?" Rina asked anxiously.

"I promise. I don't even have a nose tickle," Judith replied.

"Oh, I'm glad," Rina answered gratefully. "I don't like it when my friends feel bad."

_Would Max have felt the same way about me?_ Judith wondered to herself as Rina snuggled into her mane.

…………….

Pukey had been following the creatures and their human friend in secret. Since all the fun had gone out of preying upon Judith, Pukey had turned his attentions to Carol.

Pukey watched as Carol sniffed at some wild mistletoe and sneezed as the fuzzy, feathery pollen tickled his nose.

KW snickered flirtingly. "Gee, Carol, if mistletoe makes you sneeze, then I'll have to find something else to lure you under during Christmastime."

Pukey was delighted. "He's got an even more sensitive nose than Horn- Schnozz back there! No way am I passing this up!"

And he skittered over to a tree trunk that Carol was about to brush up against. As soon as Carol's furry arm made contact with the tree, Pukey leaped on and materialized into a vapor that Carol innocently sniffed up.

"Carol, be careful of what you touch out here," Douglas warned his friend. "Rina has been telling me, Alexander, and Ira about the flu that the humans in her world are getting. Folks are dropping like owls hit with rocks from it"- (KW glared at him for this) - "and one of the ways that people catch it are from touching things! Dirty things, especially- like trees!"

"Does this mean I can't put holes in trees anymore?" Ira asked disappointedly.

"You could if you wanted to, Ira, but just wash your hands afterward!" Rina advised him. Judith rolled her eyes. Ira and his holes; oh, brother.

"This flu virus that we have in my world is really serious, gang," Rina continued. "It's so terrible, and it's spreading so quickly, that even schools are closing. My school hasn't closed, but whenever someone there coughs or sneezes, everyone around starts yelling, "Oh, no!! Swine flu! Go home!!!" I'm glad it isn't like that over here!"

Ira gave Rina a strange look. "No, no, we don't do that here," he replied.

Judith spoke up. "How about that thing I do when I say that I see something on your face, and you lean forward, and then I lick you? That's one of the only tricks you fall for! I'm not giving that up!"

Rina laughed. "I think we can still allow licking, Judy," she answered, patting Judith on the head.

Suddenly, everyone heard something that sounded like, "AAAaaaahhhh…..AAAAaaaaahhhhh….."

"Oh, no! Judith, are you going to sneeze again?" Rina asked the Wild Thing she was riding on.

"Oh, Judy, what are we going to do with you?" Ira asked.

Judith stared at them all. "Uuuuhhh…that's not me."

"Then who…" Douglas began, and then gasped. "Oh, no! Carol!"

"AAAAAHHH – CHHOOOO!" Carol sneezed, shaking some cherry blossoms loose from a tree.

"Bless YOU," KW said, raising her eyebrows and shaking flowers out of her long hair.

"Gee, thanks, KW," Carol sniffed. "All of a sudden, I'm feeling rotten."

"Uh oh," Rina said.

"Come here," Douglas said to his friend, and put his paw on Carol's forehead. He sucked his breath in and jerked his paw away.

"Carol, you're burning up!" Douglas gasped.

"AAAAHH-CHOOO! AH-CHOO, AH-CHOO, AHH-CHOOO!" Carol went off into a sneezing fit that caused him to lose his balance and fall into a pile of autumn leaves.

"I'b sdeezig, too," Carol added.

Rina jumped off of Judith and ran over to Carol. She tried unsuccessfully to pull him to his feet.

"Don't worry, Carol! We'll take you home!" Rina assured him, grabbing one of his paws.

Just then, Carol's eyes opened wide, he slapped his free paw over his mouth; then rolled over quickly on his side.

"BBLLLLEEEEAAAAUUUUGHHH!!!"

"EEEEEEeeeeeeeeeWWWwwwww," said all the Wild Things in unison.

Carol rolled over to face Rina again. "I don't wanna go anywhere, Rina," he whined, like a little cub. "I'm feeling even worse."

"Ohhh, poor, poor Carol," Rina moaned sympathetically, hugging his face.

KW stepped forward. She knew how to improve this situation. Her mother had taught her everything about medicines and curatives that she needed to know.

"All right, everybody, let's make Carol as comfortable as we can. It looks like we're going to be staying here for awhile. I've got some ideas on how to make him feel better."

Rina started rubbing Carol's belly to calm him down.

"It's gonna be okay, Carol, you'll see," she said. "All your friends are here." She handed him a tissue.


	3. Chapter 3: KW's Idea

Ch. 3: KW's Idea

Note: Hello! In this chapter, KW gets the idea of making some medicine for Carol (like she did for Rina in _We Love You So_). Special thanx to my dad for the "natural remedy" idea!! - CJFan

Pukey turned out to really do a number on poor Carol. The usually strong, agile, resilient beast was now sneezing, wheezing, coughing and sniffling every five minutes or so, not necessarily in that order. Everyone was distraught over how quickly Carol had taken ill, and began to banter ideas back and forth about how to help him.

Ira had the first idea. "We could try giving him healing hugs, like we do for Rina!"

Douglas shook his head. "Ira, our healing hugs only work with flesh wounds and hurt feelings. Whatever has made Carol so sick is inside him. We could try, but the hugs can't do much with internal causes!"

"Not even if you guys did it all at once, like a group hug?" Rina asked.

"I'm afraid not, Rina," KW answered.

But KW was getting an idea of her own, via a very vivid flashback....

_Nighttime had fallen over the Island of the Wild Things, and the parent creatures were tucking their cubs in for the night, singing lullabies to them and washing their faces with long, slimy, tickly tongues. Dana, Carol's father, was playing one last tickle game with his ticklish little cub in order to tire him out and help him transtion to bedtime. Alexander was nursing his mother, Shanae. Bodhi, Ira's father who adopted Judith after her mother was killed, watched as his little cub and the cub he loved as though she were his own snuggle together in their sleep. Douglas' mother Roberta fluffed out her underfeathers so her son could sleep under her warm, cozy down. Daniel's mother Skye held her little bull-calf on her tummy as she rocked very gently back and forth. But Sisti, KW's mother, was having difficulties. _

_Whenever KW lay down and tried to fall asleep, she couldn't stop coughing. Sisti was concerned because she knew her little KW was tired and wanted to sleep, but couldn't. She also knew that her cub's coughing and sniffing would keep the rest of the herd awake as well. _

_"Katharine, don't you feel well?" Sisti asked KW._

_"Unh- unh," KW answered miserably. Her little nose crinkled as she sniffled, and _AAAH, AAH, CHOOO! _She sneezed so hard that the tree she and Sisti slept under shed some of its leaves._

_Carol, who was just nodding off, heard the sneeze and looked over worriedly in KW's direction. He was sort of fond of KW, but she never paid much attention to him. But unlike Judith, she wasn't too bad for a girl - thing. Eventually, his concern lost the battle with fatigue, and he fell back asleep against his father's tummy. _

_"Oh, dear, little Katharine, you **are **sick, aren't you?" Sisti murmured sympathetically. She gave a cursory look at the falling leaves her little cub's sneeze had shaken loose. "Well, don't worry. I'll give you some medicine to help you sleep."_

_"Thack you, Mabba," KW replied stuffily. Somehow, the medicines her mother manufactured herself weren't as nasty-tasting as others. But maybe she was just biased._

_Within minutes, Sisti had thrown together all the necessary ingredients for the remedy - except for one. KW leaned over her mother's mortar and pestle and took a whiff of the mixture. To her relief, the soothing vapors wicked away the cruddy feeling in her nose and throat. But it wasn't fully ready for consumption yet._

_Her attention was diverted by her mother coaxing a squirrel out of its knothole. The squirrel obediently hopped onto Sisti's shoulder and stared at KW._

_"Hi, Christopher," KW greeted him._

_Sisti then dangled the squirrel upside down by its tail as it made indignant chittering noises._

_"Don't worry; they like it when you do this," Sisti assured her cub. KW nodded. She hoped that someday she would have the same gift of communicating with the woodland fauna that her mother had._

_Sisti then yanked a tuft of fur from Christopher's tail and tossed it into the mixing bowl. Christopher yowled in pain and bounded out of Sisti's clutches as fast as he could._

_"Now here you go, Katharine. Drink it all down!" Sisti urged KW._

_KW did as she was told, and began to feel better almost immediately. She snuggled next to Sisti and let herself fall asleep......._

"I know precisely what to do," KW announced, startling her friends.

"You do?" Rina asked, clasping her hands together. If it would help Carol feel better, she would try it!

KW smiled at Rina and continued, "I'm going to make the same medicine for Carol that my mother made for me when I was a cub. But we're going to need to look for a few things first."

"You just say the word, and we're there, KW!" Douglas replied eagerly.

"I'm not sure this'll work, really," Judith said gloomily. "But I can't stand to see the poor fella in such a bad way. OK, I'm in."

"HEY, CAROL! DON'T WORRY, 'CAUSE WE'RE GONNA GET YOU SOME MEDICINE!!!!" Ira called over to Carol.

Carol whimpered and covered his ears. "Please don't yell, Ira. It makes my head hurt....Achoo!"

Note: I'll be updating soon! Haha Ira's so cute, isn't he? The "healing hugs" thing is actually taken from the video game for WTWTA. I don't really play VG's, but I've done some research on the WTWTA VG, and I know that much about it LOL! Actually, if there are any WTWTA fans out there who have played the VG and can tell me more about it, I'd appreciate it! Thanks!!! - CJFan


End file.
